CHAPTER 681: CHAPTER 335: LIKE A PIG

The overly handsome man was named Li Jiao, and he told Zhao Yao that he was a student of the Jinling Academy, captured because he wanted to participate in the imperial examinations. He asked Zhao Yao who he was and why he had been captured.

Zhao Yao did not believe a word of what Li Jiao said. With Li Jiao’s demeanor, he didn’t seem like someone from a humble background. Zhao Yao wondered if Li Jiao took him for a fool, thinking he would believe his words.

Indeed, as the Tenth Prince, he always gave others the impression of being simple and naive, even a fool, no wonder Li Jiao was so blatant in deceiving him.

Zhao Yao told Li Jiao that his name was Liang Yao, and he was preparing to go to his maternal grandparents’ home in Yangzhou, but unexpectedly, he encountered an accident and was inexplicably captured.

Through their interactions and probing over these few days, Li Jiao discovered that this Tenth Prince was indeed as innocent as the rumors described, appearing utterly foolish and without any cunning.

Zhao Yao, seeing that he had deceived Li Jiao, breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. However, as he was ostensibly a simpleton, he couldn’t probe Li Jiao about certain matters, nor could he hint at them, otherwise, Li Jiao would discover he was pretending to be dumb.

Given his current situation, although Zhao Yao was a bit worried and anxious, he could only wait patiently.

At this moment, Zhao Yao lay on the bed in the secret chamber with a face showing a loss of interest in life.

"Brother Jiao, how long will we be locked up? Even if they want to sell us, it’s about time they did so."

Li Jiao laughed and asked, "You want to be sold?"

Zhao Yao turned over, looking sideways at Li Jiao with a pout, "Of course I don’t want to be sold, but I also don’t want to be locked up here forever. If this continues, I’m going to go crazy."

"They can’t keep us locked up forever. They’ll probably let us out after some time." Their days spent together made Li Jiao unconsciously lower his guard against Zhao Yao, who was seemingly without any ulterior motives and innocently charming.

Zhao Yao gave people the feeling of a lively and adorable younger brother, making it hard not to like him. Even his royal brothers, though not as fond of Zhao Yao as Prince Chu and Prince Wei, didn’t dislike him. As for the courtiers, they didn’t support or advocate for Zhao Yao, but that didn’t mean they disliked him.

Many courtiers thought it was rare to have a fool like Zhao Yao in the Royal Family. Although such a prince was looked down upon, interacting with him required no effort, nor was there any worry of angering him, which was a good thing for them.

The ministers in the Lanyuan Pavilion all liked Zhao Yao, and got along with him very well. Many ministers had sons or grandsons, and Zhao Yao was as innocent, bright, and adorable as they were.

"Brother Jiao, where do you think they’ll sell us?" Zhao Yao said, showing a look of fear and panic on his face, "Brother Jiao, will we die after being sold, like in those storybooks?"

"Probably not. If they wanted to kill us, they would have done so by now. Why bother keeping us locked up and feeding us well?"

"Brother Jiao, pigs are also fed well before they are slaughtered," Zhao Yao said with a worried and uneasy look, "I feel like we’re just like pigs."

Li Jiao, who was drinking tea, nearly choked upon hearing this. He looked at Zhao Yao, a helpless smile appearing on his face.

"Is that how you describe yourself?"

Zhao Yao rolled around on the bed, "I just feel like we’re a lot like pigs now, being fattened up before being sold when the time is ripe."

"You may want to be a pig, but I don’t," Li Jiao reassured Zhao Yao, "Let’s wait a few more days and see."

"Brother Jiao, do you have a way to escape?"

"Not at the moment."

"Brother Jiao, can we really escape?" Zhao Yao started to cry softly.

Seeing Zhao Yao bury his head into the pillow crying softly again, Li Jiao knew he was frightened once more.

He walked over, gently patting Zhao Yao’s back, and comforted him in a gentle voice, "We will definitely escape."

Zhao Yao lifted his face from the pillow, his clear and beautiful eyes filled with tears, his delicate face full of grievance and fear.

"Brother Jiao, we really won’t die, will we?"

Li Jiao reached out and gently patted Zhao Yao’s head, speaking softly, "We won’t die."

"Brother Jiao, I miss my mother." If his concubine mother knew he was missing and captured, she would be very worried. Hopefully, the Emperor hadn’t told her about this. Also, he’s been missing for so long, so why hasn’t the hidden guard sent by the Emperor to protect him found him yet? Could it be that the powerful families in Jinling are so formidable that they can even elude the Hidden Guard?